2017 Statistics: the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip

- Date: 12-7-2018

- I reviewed the preliminary results report of the General Census of Population, Housing and Establishments for 2017, which was issued in February 2018, and what caught my attention in some pages of the report were many items, including education and unemployment, women's participation in work and the number of Christian inhabitants...!!!

- Below is a brief summary of some of these indicators:

- The number of Palestinian inhabitants in the areas of Palestine occupied in 1967 referred to above in the 2017 report amounted to 4,780,978 persons, of whom in the West Bank 2,881,687 persons including Jerusalem at 60%, and in the Gaza Strip 1,899,291 persons — at 40%. The percentage of the population by governorates in the West Bank and Jerusalem — as follows in descending order — was:

- Hebron: 652,597 persons — 15%; Jerusalem: 435,483 persons — 8.8%; Nablus: 388,321 persons — 8.2%; Ramallah and Al-Bireh: 328,861 persons — 6.8%; Jenin: 314,866 persons — 6.6%; Bethlehem was 4.6%; Tulkarm: 3.9%; Qalqilya: 2.3%, etc. As for the Gaza Strip — which constitutes 40% of the population — the percentage shares of the total population were: Gaza: 13.6%; Khan Yunis: 7.8%; North Gaza: 7.7%; Deir al-Balah: 5.7%; Rafah: 5%.

- It was noted that the number of Christian inhabitants in the West Bank and Jerusalem reached 45,712 Palestinian Christians, i.e., about 1% of the population in this report... where the number of Palestinian Christian citizens in Bethlehem was 23,165 persons, — according to the report — followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh: 10,255 persons, then Jerusalem: 8,558 persons — according to the report under study... 2017 — excluding the Palestinian Christian citizens in the Interior. This is a painful reality for a basic component of the Arab Palestinian citizens, who used to comprise a proportion reaching 20% of the total population in the last century between the two World Wars. The population of Palestine in 1914 was 689,275 persons, 8% of whom were Jews. The number of Arab Palestinian Christians in 1922 — according to a report by a group of Palestinian researchers — Center for Arab Research and Studies — Cairo 1978: the Muslim population in 1922 was 589,177 persons, and 71,464 persons were Christians and 83,790 persons were Jews at 11.2%. In 1931 the number of Christians was 88,907 persons, Muslims 759,700 persons, while the Jewish population was 174,166 persons at 16.9%. In 1935, before the famous 1936 strike, the number of Arab populations was Muslims 836,688 persons and Christians 105,236 persons, while Jews constituted 27.2% of the population, numbering 355,157 persons. In 1948, after the 1947 partition decision, the Arab population was 1,343,900 Muslims and 148,100 Arab Christians, while the Jewish population was 650,000 persons, i.e., 30.2% after the clandestine and overt migrations of Jews coming from abroad — who settled in Palestine, according to the statistics of the aforementioned institute...

- It is clear that there is emigration of Arab Palestinian Christians abroad, as their proportion declined to around 1% of the Arab Palestinian population in the West Bank and Jerusalem according to the 2017 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics — which suggests that there is a steady bleed of these Arab Palestinian citizens, who together with their Muslim brothers formed an enduring national tableau.!!.. This decrease constitutes a serious signal... for the Palestinian national fabric... which must be examined for its causes internally and externally..

As for educational attainment and illiteracy in Palestine occupied in 1967, it was observed that the illiteracy rate in 1997 — the first statistical survey of the population in Palestine occupied in 1967 — was 14% of the population; it dwindled to less than 4% in the 2017 statistical survey. This is a positive development resulting from efforts by all sectors that were exerted to make Palestine 100% literate. It should be noted that the number of illiterate males in the governorates of the West Bank reached 22,676 persons, while the number of illiterate females reached 69,648 individuals. This also shows that illiteracy remains higher among females than among males. This necessitates awareness-raising and efforts to eradicate illiteracy for males and females together.

- As for unemployment, the statistical survey under study showed that the unemployment rate reached 26.3%, where it amounted to 12% in the West Bank and 47% in the Gaza Strip, and unemployment is concentrated among the category of university graduate youth... and this is a long-standing problem whose wound has not been adequately addressed, and it is a phenomenon that could lead to destabilization in Palestinian society if solutions are not found for it... It was also reported that the proportion of children under 18 years of age to the population was 47%, i.e., 1,980,000 persons. This gives Palestinian society in the area covered — the West Bank including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — a youthful character on which one can rely to implement projects for economic development after they attend university and vocational education.
- There is a large gap shown by the statistical surveys between females and males in participation in the labor market... The number of workers in private sector, civil sector and government companies in the West Bank occupied in 1967 was 309,822 workers, of whom 228,113 were males and 62,498 were females, while in the Gaza Strip there were 114,620 males and 19,618 females — the statistics do not include the Jerusalem governorate —

It was observed from the cited statistics that more than a quarter of a million individuals of the Palestinian population suffer from at least one disability. There are also 125,000 buildings that are either closed or vacant in Palestine occupied in 1967, 70% of which are in the West Bank. Also, the number of residents living in areas classified "C" reached 393,163 persons.

- It was noted that the number of those with health insurance in the West Bank reached 1,669,731 persons, while the uninsured amounted to 840,125 persons. In the Gaza Strip the number insured reached 1,788,397 persons, while the number uninsured was 84,493 persons — according to what was stated in the report..